About
After studying at Berklee College of Music, Boston in the early 90s, Belgian saxophonist Stéphane Mercier lived in New York for seven years. There he developed his career and recorded for the first independent jazz label Fresh Sound/New Talent. The album Flor de Luna was released in 2000 and distributed worldwide. He then lived in Paris for two years before returning to Belgium, where he formed a first quartet with Charles Loos.
He multiplied international projects with groups of varying sizes, from intimate duos to big bands.
In 2013, he released an album bringing together 16 duets with the greats of Belgian jazz and launched the traveling show La Boîte de Jazz, 270 performances in front of more than 27,000 spectators.
In 2014, he was sent around the world as ambassador Adolphe Sax, the Belgian inventor of the saxophone born two hundred years earlier, to give concerts and conferences (Hungary, USA, Qatar, Kazakhstan, etc.).
In addition to his current activities as a saxophonist, he wrote a book on jazz: "Une Autre Histoire Du Jazz", Editions Jourdan.
In 2016, he took over the Jazz Station Big Band, the "house" band of the famous Brussels club, the Jazz Station, with which he began monthly residencies and international collaborations with the Théâtre Marni (Czech pianist Emil Viklicki), Dinant Jazz Festival and Brussels Jazz Festival, Flagey 2022 (Swiss harmonica player Grégoire Maret) and the Brosella Festival (Sting's pianist: Jason Rebello), pianist Ivan Paduart (residency at Columban, Sept 21), and recently singer David Linx.
In 2018, he was a soloist, arranger and leader of 27 saxophonists in front of the leaders at the NATO summit in Brussels: he represented Belgium: the saxophone, Magritte and Stromae.
Albums were released on the labels Igloo, Mogno and Hypnote Records.
Current international collaborations are: Quantum Stereo (UK, with Darren Beckett, Jason Rebello, Stella Angelika,...), B.Konexion (US, with Napoleon Da Legend, Nejma Nefertiti,…), BZ Sounds (US, with Ben Zwerin, Benny Benack III, Lionel Loueke,…), and the Damon Brown & Stéphane Mercier Quintet (UK), the George Colligan Quartet (USA), the Dave Redmond Quartet (Ireland)
His new jazz quartet was born in 2021 at the Tournai Jazz Festival and the Dinant Jazz Festival, with Nicola Andrioli, Nicolas Thys and Dré Pallemaerts.
In February 2022, he was commissioned with his group the Jazz Station Big Band in Dubai for the Universal Exhibition. They played in front of King Philippe of Belgium to pay tribute to the late Toots Thielemans.
In May 2022, he played for the first time under his name at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, the most prestigious European club.
Since then, productions have followed one after the other on the new Step By Records label: Quantum Stereo, Calling Paul Desmond, Syntropy, Centro (Redmond – Mercier – Beckett) and also Palindrome by the Jazz Station Big Band.
In July 2024, he was invited to play at the Saxophone Summit of the Dinant Jazz Festival with great contemporary saxophonists: Chris Potter, Lionel Belmondo, Stefano Di Battista and Sophie Alour.
